Traffic channelizing devices are used at the present time to warn and alert drivers of hazards created by work activity in or near the traveled way and to guide and direct motor vehicle operators safely past these hazards. Drums of various configurations are one of several types of channelizing devices. Traffic channelizing drums constructed of plastic have been developed and are in extensive use. One such plastic channelizer that has been widely utilized and copied is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,033, granted on Apr. 4, 1978, and entitled "TRAFFIC CONTROL ELEMENT". One of the embodiments disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,033 is a two-piece channelizing element that may be readily assembled together in a stabilized condition for traffic channelization purposes. In the commercially available, two-piece channelizer elements, the bottom piece or the base element is usually configured in a manner of an open tray for receiving a ballast which in actual practice is loose sand or a similar material or a bag or bags of sand stored in the open ballast tray for that purpose. In addition, one-piece traffic elements may store the same types of ballast within the bottom of the one-piece element. The problem of using a two-piece breakaway drum has been recognized in the art, namely, that the two pieces may disassemble when the workers attempt to drag the assembled two pieces to a new location or off the road at the end of a day's work. This may occur up to two or three times in a working day. The ballast or sand bag may be stored on such open ballast trays either horizontally or vertically in accordance with the configurations of the bases and co-acting tops of the traffic channelizers and are known to move around on their storing bases. When the open ended tray is provided with loose or bagged sand, and when the drum is dragged across a surface, a tipping action causes the ballast or sand to drop to the low side of the tipped channelizer and lean against the inside of the hollow drum. This shifting of the weight of the ballast or sand tends to release the latching mechanism which holds the top and bottom portions of the traffic channelizer together and has released the latch that is in the very area that is under maximum tension due to the dragging action. If the two pieces do not detach during this procedure, after the drum is repositioned at a new location, the sand may remain off center so that the effective forces at the latching mechanism required to release the two pieces have been altered, reduced, contrary to the original design and releases with impacts of reduced strength. The matter of dragging the two-piece element across the surface to prevent such a release of the base element has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,053. The problem has been minimized by the provision of skids on the base element of the traffic control channelizer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,053 to prevent the ready detachment of the base element from the top element during dragging. It, however, does not solve the problem of rearranging the ballast within the drum for subsequent use resulting in altering the forces at the latching mechanism required to release the top and base elements. Sand is generally the presently preferred material for ballasting a traffic control element because it is inexpensive and readily available and relatively "soft." The sand ballast typically remains in the roadway after a channelizing device has been impacted, resulting in the separation of the two pieces. This is especially the case where a two-piece breakaway plastic drum with an open ended base or tray-like element is utilized since the base, along with its ballast, usually is not displaced significantly upon the initial impact when the upper unit is knocked off or is detached from the base element. In ballasting with sand, the sand is most commonly placed in bags or stored in a similar soft breakable container which will dispense the sand upon being run over by a motor vehicle tire or tires, or will get ripped by the vehicle undercarriage. This action has been considered desirable as no large obstacle remains which will encourage evasive action to cause lofting of motor vehicles. Loose sand placed in an open to drum or an open ballast tray for a two-piece channelizer is undesirable and infrequently used for several reasons. The amount of loose sand used for ballasting often will be either insufficient or excessive. Furthermore, upon impact, the sand immediately will be spread over the driving surface. Bagged sand has the advantage in that the amount of sand and therefore the weight of the ballast can be controlled and easily handled. After devices containing bagged sand are hit or run over, sometimes even once, the bags will destruct and, again, the sand will be dispersed over the pavement. It has been found that sand on a dry driving pavement reduces the coefficient of friction between a tire and the road's surface, which results in increasing the emergency deceleration distances. Similarly, the reduction in the coefficient of friction may lead to loss of vehicle control. This degradation of performance capability occurs in the critical construction work zones where channelizing devices are commonly placed on the roadways traveled by motor vehicles, namely, on tapers, on curves, at shifts in travel patterns, and at hazardous locations. While it is recognized that sand on the pavement may adversely affect vehicle performance, this situation is considered preferable to a rigid ballast that constitutes a physical obstacle. In the proper use of all of these devices, it is recognized that an essential element of the traffic control device is an adequate ballasting element. Accordingly, traffic channelizers that are commonly termed in the art as two-piece traffic control devices are essentially three- or even four-piece devices, since the ballasting elements, such as the sand bags or the like, always have to be taken into consideration and properly mounted with the base and top elements of the so called two-piece element. Some traffic channelizing devices in the form of detachable, two-piece devices and traffic cones are known in the art that store a pre-selected volume and weight of ballast therein. A two-piece traffic channelizer of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,690. This prior patent discloses traffic elements on highway barricades that permanently store ballast in the form of a cast iron ring in the base element or, alternatively, the base is configured with an internal, upturned flange for storing ballast in the form of concrete or a particular material such as sand. Detachable base elements fillable with loose sand are also disclosed. These prior art structures have been found to be difficult to ballast in practice. Traffic cones are generally of a unitary configuration and generally do not have a two-piece, detachable configuration. Most of the prior art traffic cones having hollow, ballast storing configurations have not been commercially successful. Traffic cones having hollow, ballast storing compartments are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,762,327 and 2,808,803. These patents disclose filling up the tubular ballast storing elements with sand and sealing them in fixed, secured relationship in the traffic cone. A traffic cone that is presently commercially available is identified as a "Maxicone" of the Glasdon Company. This cone is internally ballasted with sand. The deficiencies of the ballasts for the prior art traffic cones and alternate solutions are disclosed in the United Kingdom document 2122239. Some sand filled traffic cones are known to crush in use due to their design configuration and construction.
At the present time, we have no knowledge of a traffic control element and, in particular, a two-piece, detachable, attachable traffic channelizer element having a fillable base element for readily storing ballast therein and securing the ballast to eliminate the need for continuous replenishment of the ballast, generally sand bags, and yet allows the ballast to be discharged therefrom and shipped and stored without ballast. Accordingly, the present invention avoids the aforementioned problems of the prior art plastic channelizers by providing a truly two-piece traffic channelizer device which permits the base element to be filled with a stabilizing material only once and then secured within the base element so that the base need not be stabilized again and the two-piece elements can be continuously assembled and disassembled, driven over by motor vehicles, and moved from position to position without need to reballast or reassemble the separated elements.